St. Louis offense vs. Philadelphia defense

	RAMS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	9
	Pass	1
	Tot. Yds.	1
	Scoring	1
	Int's allowed	11
	Sacks allowed	28
	EAGLES DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	26
	vs. Pass	17
	Total yds. allowed	22
	# of Ints.	24
	# of Sacks	32
	Turnover differential	+2

With his team having clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs, it will be interesting to see whether Ram coach Dick Vermeil will open up his offense versus a young and aggressive Philadelphia defense. The Eagles have nothing to lose, so expect defensive coordinator Jim Johnson to loosen the reigns and allow his defense to come after whoever is in the game at QB for the Rams.

With a first-round bye in the playoffs, it is likely that Vermeil will play his starters for the first half, and then regardless of the score, allow his reserves to come on and play the remainder of the game -- injuries at this point in the year would devastate a team that has managed to remain healthy through most of the season.

Before QB Curt Warner gives way to backup QB Justin Watson, expect him to look deep downfield early. WR Isaac Bruce has deep speed and will be a favorite target of Warner this week, particularly if he is matched up against Philadelphia RDC Al Harris, playing in place of Bobby Taylor, who is out for the season with a broken jaw. Harris is a solid cover guy, but leads the Eagles with a team-high 14 pass interference penalties. RB Marshall Faulk should see most of the action in the first half, but will most likely be replaced by Robert Holcombe at the start of the second.

Philadelphia has difficulty getting to opposing quarterbacks, especially if the team is rushing only four players. In such situations, a quarterback like St. Louis QB Warner has all day to make his reads. This means Philadelphia will have to blitz, and blitz often; leaving cornerbacks Al Harris and Troy Vincent in single coverage for much of the day. Nickel back Allen Rossum will be on #3 WR Az-Zahir Hakim, probably also in single coverage, so the potential for a big play is there.

When Philadelphia does blitz, they'll need to get to Warner quickly, otherwise he will find RB Marshall Faulk out of the backfield. Faulk is having an MVP-caliber season and is one of the more elusive backs in the NFL, so the Eagle linebackers will have to wrap up Faulk to prevent him from getting a lot of yards after the catch.

FS Brian Dawkins was voted to the Pro Bowl and is the big-play guy in the Eagle secondary. He will spend a great deal of his time on the line of scrimmage, as Philadelphia will rely on him to put pressure on Warner.

Philadelphia offense vs. St. Louis defense

	EAGLES OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	13
	Pass	31
	Tot. Yds.	29
	Scoring	29
	Int's allowed	16
	Sacks allowed	46
	RAMS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	1
	vs. Pass	25
	Total yds. allowed	12
	# of Ints.	27
	# of Sacks	54
	Turnover differential	-10

Philadelphia's offense is one of the worst in the league, despite the year that RB Duce Staley had. A great deal of the problem revolves around the fact that the team lacks a speed receiver on the outside to stretch the field. Often the Eagles rely on TE Luther Broughton running deep patterns over the middle to open things up for the wide receivers and backs on the underneath patterns.

Against the Rams, look for the Eagles to continue playing a lot of the team's younger receivers as an audition for next season. Two weeks ago against New England, this young unit put 28 points on the board as the Eagles bashed the Patriots, 28-9.

QB Donovan McNabb will return to the lineup after missing the Patriots game with a sprained MCL, and will look for WR's Torrance Small, Na Brown and Dietrich Jells. Small has improved steadily all season, and finally seems to have regained his confidence in catching the football.

Moving the football against the Rams will not be easy, but as it has all year, the Eagles' offense will revolve around Staley. Philadelphia will try to run Staley hard early in the game to establish the run and to set up play action for McNabb so that he has a little more time to throw the football. With his performance last week, backup QB Koy Detmer has shown that he deserves to be the team's #2 QB.

LDC Todd Lyght was named to the Pro Bowl last week, and as a reward he will be asked to spend much of the day covering Philadelphia's #1 WR Torrance Small (who would be a #3 on most other teams). The Eagles will spend most of their time throwing to whoever is being covered by RDC Dexter McCleon. McCleon is good on the shorter routes, but has been susceptible to the deep ball all season long. The Rams have a big-play defense that thrives on attacking and creating confusion. Depending on how long the starters stay in the game, it could be a long day for an inexperienced Philadelphia offense.

Special teams

	NFL RANK
	Category	STL	PHI
	Punt return avg.	12	20
	Kickoff return avg.	1	7
	Opp. punt return avg.	5	11
	Opp. kickoff ret. avg.	30	22
	Time of possession	6	29

St. Louis' special teams units have dominated opponents all season. Kick and punt returners Horne and Hakim have each scored return touchdowns this season, and the Eagles are susceptible to big plays, particularly in kickoff coverage. Philadelphia's Allen Rossum is finally living up to the hype that he generated for himself with his performances in college. Both teams have talent at the special teams positions, so there could be some fireworks in this game.

Key matchups